Of a rare eclipse from the middle east to asia people have been marvelling at the ring of fire. Hello and welcome to world news today. Voting has now ended for the leadership of israels governing likud party which, for 20 years, Benjamin Netanyahu has led with an iron grip. Mr netanyahu and his rival made last minute appeals to likud members for their support. More than 100,000 Party Members were eligible to vote on whether the veteran Prime Minister should lead them into the next election. Barbara plett usher reports from jerusalem. The man who would be king. Gideon saar has issued the most serious challenge to the party in a decade. Translation i feel a great awakening on the ground. People understand that a change has to come today. With the help of god, together we will make that change today. He wants Party Members to vote for change because he says the Prime Minister failed to form a government after two general elections and has no chance of doing so in a third. There is a growi
Hello and welcome to bbc news. The israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has declared victory after his governing likud party held a leadership contest. He tweeted the official result is due in the next few hours, but a preliminary count indicated the long Time Party Leader was headed for a landslide win. Our correspondent Barbara Plett usher explains the background to this leadership contest. Over the past year, there have been two elections and in both of them mr netanyahu two elections and in both of them mr neta nyahu was an two elections and in both of them mr netanyahu was an able to form a government, he was able to get enough allies who support him to actually create a government that he could lead. Hanging over all that was the pending possibility of criminal charges on Corruption Cases and that, is by the belief, he wants to form a strong government that would grant him immunity. It wasnt able to do that and that hung over his ability to form a Coalition Government exac
Of the central philippines. Only today is there a sense of the damage caused. As buildings were reduced to rubble, 16,000 people were moved to shelters. Thousands more were stranded as they tried to get home for christmas. Coastal villages have been devastated. The typhoon was so powerful, large boats were overturned. The philippines is no stranger to tropical storms and typhoons, with around 20 arriving each year. The most powerful one to hit land ever in the world, typhoon haiyan, struck in 2013, leaving more than 6,000 people dead. Today, as a country rebuilds, the red cross warns it could take weeks to bring back power and running water. Not only that, many filipinos are still missing. James waterhouse, bbc news. Spanish police have named a british holiday maker and his two children who drowned in a Swimming Pool on christmas eve. Gabriel diya had been staying with his family at a resort on the costa del sol. Police say the pool appears to have been working normally at the time. Em
Day programme of the decade. And coming up in half an hour on bbc news, amol rajan takes a look back at a year dominated by the power of social media, in review 2019 the media year. Spanish police have named a british holiday maker and his two children who drowned in a Swimming Pool on christmas eve. Gabriel diya had been staying with his family at a resort on the costa del sol. Police say the pool appears to have been working normally at the time. Emily unia reports. According to spanish police, gabriel diya, who was 52, died trying to rescue his nine year old daughter, comfort, after she got into difficulties in this hotel Swimming Pool. His 16 year old son praise emmanuel tried to help and also died. Postmortem examinations confirmed that all three drowned. A 14 year old girl, the childrens sister, raised the alarm. A british tourist whos staying at the resort told the bbc she spoke to the childrens mother. I noticed a woman was walking towards where i was. She looked really distrau
In business, chinese telecoms giant huawei launches a second legal challenge against the us ban, saying there is no evidence it is a National Security threat. A warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. And you can be part of the conversation. After the row about pelotons sexist and dystopian christmas video advert, what is the worst gift you have ever received, and why, and how did you react . Let me know. Just use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. Commuters in france are struggling to get to work this hour as one of the countrys biggest ever nationwide strikes begins. Rail services have been severely hit and many schools are also closed as unions battle the government over pension reform. It will be a major test for emmanuel macrons presidency, as rich preston reports. 90 of high speed and regional trains will be affected, according to the countrys rail operator, meaning problems travelling and commuting for thousands of people.